MoneyGram ‘House for Mom’ Sweepstakes.

MoneyGram kicked off its annual “Buy a House for Mom” sweepstakes on April 1 with a new grand prize of $100,000, a 25 percent increase over last year’s prize. MoneyGram also will award 50 first prizes of $500 each, in addition to the grand prize. For the next two months, anyone in the U.S. sending a MoneyGram money transfer will automatically be entered in the sweepstakes. There is also a no purchase necessary method of entry so interested consumers can enter the sweepstakes by mail.

MoneyGram started the sweepstakes a dozen years ago as a way of recognizing the importance of Mother’s Day in many Latin American cultures. Since many people observe Mother’s Day by sending money transfers to their mothers living far away, the sweepstakes quickly became popular with MoneyGram customers. Today any international or domestic transactions sent from money transfer agent locations in the U.S., as well as online transactions sent via MoneyGram eMoneyTransfer during the contest’s time period are included in the drawing. The grand prize winner, however, is not required to use the money to “buy a house for Mom.”

“MoneyGram service helps families stay connected,” said Tony Samour, MoneyGram’s director of international marketing. “Our sweepstakes just makes it more fun and we expect the increase to a $100,000 will make the sweepstakes even more popular.”

This year’s sweepstakes runs from April 1 to May 31, 2007. Winners of the promotion will be notified in September.

MoneyGram ExpressPayment transactions are not eligible for the sweepstakes. A complete list of rules for the promotion is